I Am Bismark

so, i’ve been a bit blah lately. mostly having to do with being in a very one sided relationship with the computer labs on campus. they take up all of my time without really giving much back…. nevertheless, i am alive and healthy, so i should be grateful. i was doing some transcribing of my mission journal (yes, this project has been going on for four years and i am not even half way through….) and i came across this passage which really made me feel a lot better to read again (especially the steve jobs-like “boom”). though its personal, i think its worth sharing in case it has a positive effect on any of my readers.

03.10.10 [Friday] Well, it was a good day. This morning we housed. Same as usual really. Though people seemed not to be home more than usual. Sheesh. We ate lunch, then went to service, which ended up not happening, since Ma-kun was feeling a bit sick. So we streeted for awhile, then we went to visit Kozasa kyoudai. He got a severe burn on his hand and foot at work, so he is in the hospital. We went there and found him. He was happy to see us so talked for awhile, gave him some bananas (his favorite food), and prayed with him. Then he walked using a little rolling stand to lean on with all the way to the front entrance and waved for a really long time with a big smile on his face. It felt good to see him so genki after our visit (he is usually a very shy + quiet person). Then we took dinner, after which we had our lesson with Kaori. Amazing lesson! The Yamazaki’s jointed and helped us out a ton. Kaori has been keeping her commitments, which has made all the difference in the world. We spent about 20 minutes just talking about how the Book of Mormon has affected our lives. Kaori said when she read and prayed her day seemed so much better and work was a lot more fun. She knew that there was something good in the book. Then she said she though it would be nice if she could get the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Boom. During this whole time while she was testifying (without knowing it), the Spirit was very very thick in the room. All of us went around the room testifying of the BoM, and the Spirit continued. I just felt like the baptismal yotei was a done deal and from then on it was just formalities. So we quickly ran through the lesson, making sure she understood the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel, and answering her questions. It felt completely like a no pressure situation since the Spirit had already said it was a done deal, so the lesson was very relaxed and easy. Everyone got a big crack out of Elder Thompson forgetting step 3, baptism. Sheesh. Anyway, we got through the principles, asked her if baptism was important which she thought it was, then we asked her if she would receive it. She asked if she was qualified and we said we would help her to be, so then she said yes! We set the date for November 9th (my birthday which I didn’t mention) and we told her to start praying daily about it. I think things are going to go well. She already has good relationships with the members and she is very excited. She got off work this Sunday so she could come to General Conference. I hope she has a spiritual time. The biggest problem I see is her work since she works at a grocery store which busiest hours are Sunday mornings, but we will work things out! Woohoo, the first yotei I’ve seen! Se it really does happen! The lesson last night made us feel like a very small part of this whole work. It is really in God’s hands. Tuesday we fretted and worried and prayed trying to get ready for the lesson and things fell through, but today we really didn’t worry about it. And when we went in and the Spirit was strong at the beginning, it wasn’t about how well we taught or anything like that. It was all Heavenly Father who got her ready for the challenge. We merely took care of the formalities. It was great!